Kanegetshighbysmellinhisarmpits

OOC: This is the last segement of the show, as it doesn't fit on the end of that post.

The ‘Ultimate’ Survivor

After the handshake, Goldberg leads a round of applause for Sting, who is about to leave the ring when Sid Vicious, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Vader and the Honky Tonk Man run down to the ring and beat down the two finalists. Sid and Vader decimate Sting, while The Outsiders and Honky attack Goldberg. Then, some familiar music plays and the Ultimate Warrior runs down to the ring. Warrior and Goldberg manages to clear the ring between them and, as officials tend to a fallen Sting, Warrior and Goldberg go face to face in the middle of the ring. (B+)

Road Agent Notes: This segment suffered as it came across as a let-down after the previous segment. This segment benefitted greatly from a hot crowd. The performance of Goldberg looked good. The Ultimate Warrior was very underwhelming. This segment lifted the crowd.

Heenan: What the hell is this nutcase doing here? They let him out of the asylum already?

Tenay: It doesn’t matter, Bobby Heenan, he helped Goldberg and Sting when they were in trouble, and now he seems to want the All-Time World Heavyweight Championship. And we’re out of time! Thankyou for joining us for the first ever Legends of Wrestling Pay-Per-View…see you soon!

Goldberg and Warrior are still face-to-face in the ring, as the picture fades to black.

Overall Show rating: B+

OOC: As I'm using TEW, I will alter the ratings system for this diary. Angles will be rated in the same way as on TEW 05 (e.g. A*, A, B+ etc), but matches will be rated with stars. I've worked out a system where, the letter rating on TEW corresponds with a star rating - A*=*****, A=****1/2, B+=****, B=***1/2 etc.

Pre-Show:

Dark Match: The Gangsta’s (New Jack and Mustafa) vs Tommy Dreamer and Abdullah the Butcher (Terry Funk as Special Guest Referee) in a Hardcore Match

The Gangstas entered first, each carrying dustbins, loaded to the brim with various hardcore weapons, which get tossed into the ring. When Dreamer and Butcher come down the ramp, New Jack doesn’t wait for them to get to the ring, and he throws himself over the top rope, aiming a suicide dive at Abdullah. However, Abdullah catches Jack in mid-air, and he rams him back first into the ring post. Butcher throws Jack into the railings at ringside, and a whole section of the railings collapse on top of Jack. Butcher then slowly climbs into the ring, where Dreamer and Mustafa are trading blows. Mustafa just starts to gain the upper hand over Dreamer, when Abdullah runs into the back of Mustafa with a shoulder block, sending the Gangster flying across the ring. Dreamer and Butcher team up on Mustafa, hitting a double suplex, and then Butcher follows up with a splash. Butcher covers, but only gets a two count. The camera cuts to show New Jack finally freeing himself from the railings, and he climbs into the ring. He picks up a steel chair and virtually KILLS Dreamer with a shot across the back of the head. New Jack then turns to Butcher, but Abdullah big boots the chair back into Jack’s face, and Butcher follows that up with a trashcan lid shot to both of the Gangsta’s head. Butcher then threatens Funk, who picks up a 2x4, and we have a stand off, as the crowd chants for Funk. The camera then pans to show us that Dreamer is bleeding buckets from New Jack’s chair shot. The camera quickly returns to the Funk/Butcher stand off, and both the Gangstas surprise Butcher by drilling the edge of steel chairs into the back of his legs, sending the big man collapsing to the mat. New Jack and Mustafa take advantage by picking up kendo sticks and dually beating Butcher with them. Suddenly, New Jack stops, and he goes over to Mustafa and he points to Dreamer, who isn’t stirring, and he then points at Butcher, who is writhing in agony. A twisted smile appears across the face of both the Gangstas, and they leave the ring on opposite sides, and both go looking under the ring for weapons. Mustafa appears with a table…New Jack appears with an absolutely massive ladder. Mustafa throws the table into the ring, slides in after it, sets it up…and goes looking in one of trashcans. Meanwhile, New Jack sets the ladder up outside of the ring, and he starts to climb, playing to the crowd as he does. The camera then goes back to Mustafa, who takes a bag and a bottle out of the trashcan. He first lifts the bag up into the air, playing to the crowd, who seem to know what’s coming. Mustafa then empties the contents of the bag underneath the table, and a tinkling sound is heard as thumbtacks litter the mat underneath the table. The crowd goes nuts, but Mustafa isn’t finished yet. He next uncaps the bottle, and he empties the liquid onto the thumbtack-covered mat. Again, the crowd seems to sense what’s going on, as Mustafa picks something up off the floor…and LIGHTS THE LIQUID!!! The crowd goes nuts as Mustafa struggles to roll Abdullah onto the table, and New Jack reaches the top of the ladder. However, Abdullah then fights back against Mustafa, and Tommy Dreamer, who has previously left the ring, starts to move the ladder from underneath New Jack. The crowd goes quiet with anticipation as New Jack struggles to hold his balance at the top of the ladder. Jack does indeed lose his balance, and he falls back first through the table, into the thumbtacks and the fire underneath. The crowd go silent, before joining in a holy sh*t chant, and even Terry Funk looks shocked. An official quickly appears and puts the fire out and, whilst Abdullah is decimating Mustafa on the outside, Dreamer crawls into the ring and covers New Jack to win the match.**

Road Agent Notes: The announcing quality lifted the match. The colour commentary gave the match a boost. Tommy Dreamer looked good out there. New Jack is improving in Performance skills.

After the match, Abdullah helps Dreamer to the back, whilst paramedics swarm all over New Jack.

Winners: Abdullah the Butcher and Tommy Dreamer via pinfall

www.WrestlingRumours.net

LoW Preview

· (Taken from the LoW website and the UrbanXtra website) – “Tomorrow night, the wrestling world will be greeted by a new phenomenon. Tomorrow night, some of the greatest wrestlers of all time will appear, live on PPV. Tomorrow night…History will me in the making. Live on UrbanXtra, new promotion ‘Legends of Wrestling’ presents their inaugural show, ‘History in the Making’, starting at 9pm tomorrow night, showcasing such legendary stars as Sting, Vader, Terry Funk, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and many, many more…”

· The four wrestlers that are mentioned, whilst being big names, are nowhere near their physical best, and are far past their peak. Whilst this is understand considering the nature of the product, LoW better have some younger, fitter stars performing tomorrow night, otherwise their product could be a massive, almost legendary failure.

Looking pretty good so far. I am actually glad Mick Foley and Brock Lesnar are not with the company. I love Mick Foley, but I just don't like seeing him anywhere besides WWE. For Brock Lesnar, I haven't ever been a huge Lesnar fan and I am only starting to like him over in NJPW. I am really looking forward to seeing your roster though and it seems like your uncle doesn't really care about the promotion.

Oh and I almost forgot. Great idea to get Jim Cornette because it was very realistic and it just got me deeper into this LoW.

Wednesday, Week 4, July 2006

The best (and first) signing that we made was that of Jim Cornette. Jim was my first target for LoW as I realised that hardly any of the talent that we were aiming to hire wouldn’t sign for us due to my uncle’s deplorable reputation in the wrestling world, not to mention my non-existent reputation. However, by signing such an established and respected name as Cornette, I knew that certain performers would be more inclined to join us with a name like him on our team.

Cornette was the first person that I put on my booking team (my uncle and I had decided that I would take most control over booking), and he was soon followed by Jimmy Hart, Percy Pringle, Ross Hart and Dusty Rhodes, who was realised from the WWE during the latest example of the WWE’s roster cuts taking place a couple of days into my new job.

With these names already signed, I knew that talent would be interested in joining LoW. Soon, we were signing talent left right and centre. In fact, we were signing so much talent, that I had to start turning some wrestlers away. Also, performers like Brock Lesnar, Jerry Lawler and Ted DiBiase, who we had contracted, were let go due to them being unavailable for our shows due to either WWE or Japanese commitments. DiBiase and Lesnar were big losses to me, as I wanted to reform a stable, headed by DiBiase, much like the ones that he had formed in the past. And Brock would have been an instant draw, fresh off his agreement with the WWE.

Even more bad news was to come with the losses of Mick Foley, Dave Finlay and Dean Malenko. These three, who were also contracted to me, accepted written contracts offered by Mexican promotions (Malenko and Foley joined CMLL, whilst Finlay joined AAA). Realising that I was losing my premier talent, I quickly tried to strike deals with these two big Mexican promotions, regarding a non-aggression pact. AAA accepted, but CMLL rejected. However, CMLL didn’t steal any more of my workers before the first pay-per-view, which was a relief.

I was going to make Foley my first World Champion. I was going to base my shows around him. I was going to have a massive money feud in Foley vs Lesnar. But it wasn’t to be. Still, by the time the 4th Saturday of the month rolled round, I was more than satisfied with my roster, and me and my team had formulated a good first show (in my opinion, anyway). There were some aspects that I didn’t like, but I had to put up with due to the nature of the show.

And my uncle? Well, he has a lot of ECW videos, and he has a lot of beer…go figure.

www.WrestlingRumours.net

LoW goes PPV

· It emerged today that the new promotion, ‘Legends of Wrestling’, has secured a pay-per-view deal with UrbanXtra to show LoW PPV’s for the next 6 months. This is big news for the newly formed company, who will need the extra revenue that comes through showing PPV’s in order to survive.

· Still on LoW, there has still been no word about the roster of the new company. The names of the performers are being kept completely secret from anyone but the wrestlers and the company themselves. The feeling is that the directors of the promotion will announce some of the names in their PPV preview, scheduled to be released a couple of days before their first show, now just over two weeks away.

I am really getting ionto this and I am glad I am here for the get go. I will be following this thread entail I see your first show, but then I will make my judgment on whether I will continue to enjoy this thread or not.

I am really liking the name Legends of Wrestling and I like the style of tradition being added in. I can't wait to see who jumps up onto the roster maybe we can see the Stinger in your company as the banner sugests.

I hope good luck for you and I will be looking forward to the next update.

www.WrestlingRumours.net

‘Legends of Wrestling’…who?

· With the announcement that a new promotion, called the ‘Legends of Wrestling’ is being formed in time for their first show in three weeks time tommorow, speculation has been rife on which wrestling ‘legends’ will be appearing for this new upstart promotion. With many of the superstars questioned swearing ignorance to the new company, it seems that ‘Legends of Wrestling’ needs to either sign some names quickly, or publicise at least some of their top stars before ‘History in the Making’, otherwise very few fans will be inclined to go to the show.

· More speculation today on who is actually running the ‘Legends of Wrestling’ promotion. The main name that has been floated around is Charles Craven, better known as “Clueless Charlie” due to his many failed attempts at forming a successful promotion. However, other rumours are being heard saying that Craven’s nephew is the one running the show, with Craven as his assistant.

Monday, Week 1, July 2006

We had our first ‘board’ meeting today. My uncle and me sat in his living room, with sheets of paper scattered around his large coffee table, full of ideas, names, numbers…all very complicated, and highly frustrating stuff. The first thing on our ‘agenda’ was to decide on what type of promotion we were going be. My uncle wanted us to be a garbage promotion, which he thought was what “the industry was crying out for”. Myself, knowing this statement not to be true, and having grown up following the WWF/E, I wanted to base our promotion around the idea of Sports Entertainment. However, we decided to compromise and, as our name was ‘Legends of Wrestling’, we decided to base our company around a traditional style.

Next was our talent roster…or lack of one. We had already scheduled and booked our first show for the last Saturday of the month, and we needed sufficient name talent to make people actually pay to come to our shows.

Another problem was financial. If we were going to survive in the wrestling world, then we needed to turn a profit, as half a million dollars wasn’t going to last us that long. So, as well as trying to sign talent, I also set about finding a pay-per-view deal for LoW. And what did my uncle do whilst I was doing all this work? Sat down, drank beer, and watched old ECW videos of course. I was beginning to see why his past promotions had failed…

My wrestling dream started after my AS exams had finished in June, 2006. I decided that I didn’t want to go back to the dreary, robot like days of school – I’d finished with full time education. In fact, I decided that I’d finished with England altogether – I wanted to move to America. Now, as I had just turned 17 at this point, this was a drastic move, which my parents did not approve of. At all. However, I stayed focused, and I eventually persuaded them that I wasn’t being entirely stupid in what I wanted to accomplish.

I phoned ahead to my Uncle in the USA, who I was quite close to, and it was he who first got me interested in professional wrestling during the ‘Monday Night Wars’ and the WWF ‘Attitude’ Era. He even took me to see some of the live shows on one of my trips to visit him all those years ago. Since then, I had followed the WWE religiously through the means of the internet (as my parents flat out refused to buy Sky). Anyway, I digress…my uncle agreed to me staying with him until I could afford accommodation of my own.

So, I packed my bags, and jetted off to the USA with high hopes for the future. I arrived at my uncle’s place, seriously jet lagged and in desperate need of sleep. I had a quick bite to eat, and then I crashed for the night.

What I haven’t told you about my uncle is that he’s a wrestling promoter. He’s tried for many years now to establish himself as a major player in the wrestling industry, but every attempt fails due to either bankruptcy or a lawsuit. My uncle was rapidly running out of funds and out of love for the business…which is where I came in. I wanted to attempt something that had never been seriously attempted before, not in the modern era at least. I wanted to take my Uncle’s last remaining $250,000, combine it with my life savings of $100,000 and, together, we would attempt to create a revolutionary promotion – a promotion called…

The Legends of Wrestling.

OOC: This diary has been an idea that I've been toying with ever since I started attempting to write diaries, about a year ago. Now, since I'm using TEW 2005, the shows wil be quite long, so I apologise if you don't like detailed and long write-ups...because, believe me, the first show that I will be posting is absolutely massive (speaking of my first show, it should be posted within the next couple of days). Also, I've got exams over the next few weeks, so between revision, work and the sheer length of time that it takes to write up shows, updates over the next few weeks will be few and far between. The rate of updates will speed up after my exams finish.

Oh, feedback, both positive and negative, is greatly appreciated. I realise that, as I'm trying to describe many wrestlers that I'm not overly familiar with, that I will make many mistakes, so people highlighting errors on my part will be a massive help.

All there is left for me to say, is, enjoy!

Has anyone played/downloaded the new version of TTD? Open - Transport Tycoon Deluxe...I'm currently downloading it. Apparently, 'tis quite alot better than the original version...which must mean that it's quite an awesome game!

Easily Empire. Jedi, the final battle between Luke and Vader apart, was laughable (e.g. the Ewoks), whereas Empire had everything, as has been mentioned before e.g. the 'I am your father' revelation.

Heh, its a decent enough game to make me wanna complete. Just not play it again.

...Andie McDowell looks more like a man than most men do.

Sorry, misposted. Please close/delete this topic.

and I could swear that Roc's put a picture of Sheral Tweedy up instead of Nadine

As a Forest fan, it's hard to just pick three past players to complement the team, as we kinda need a goalkeeper, 4 defenders, 4 midfielders and 2 strikers at the moment. However, I would have Trevor Francis, John McGovern and Michael Dawson.

RAW present Monday Night RAW

Overall Rating: 81%

TV Rating: 5.56

Jim Ross and Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler welcome you to Monday Night RAW, live from Atlanta, Georgia.

Batista is walking backstage, receiving congratulations from people as he walks past for his win last night at King of the Ring. He turns around to talk to Stacy Keibler when Kane bursts past the diva and pushes Batista into the wall. Kane then grabs Batista’s title and levels the Champ with it. Kane then shouts at Batista’s fallen body “I’m coming for the title, Batista. I’m going to make your life a living hell until you give me a title shot at Vengeance, Batista.” Kane then walks off, laughing to himself, while Stacy and other nearby employees check on Batista. 78%

Evolution are hanging out in their locker room. Flair, Tomko and HHH are talking about certain events at the King of the Ring, when Christian enters. He says “So, Hunter, I beat the Undertaker last night, meaning that I’ve proved myself to you. So, I expect my title shot, but it seems that you don’t have…” Triple H rises from his seat and cuts Christian off. “Woah, woah, Christian, hold on a minute. While I’m impressed with your accomplishments last night, The Undertaker was finished three years ago. To prove yourself to me, you need to beat more up-to-date opponents. Let me see, next, go and beat…Rey Mysterio. That should be a challenge for you.” Christian laughs. “Hunter, please, that’s too easy. I mean, I could beat Rey with…”. Triple H cuts him off again “We’ll see, Christian, we’ll see. Now, go and hunt your prey…” Christian is about to turn and leave, frustrated, when Hunter grabs Christian and spins him round, so that they are face to face. “And never question me. Yes I lost to Batista last night, but I’ll beat him sooner or later. If you ever question me again, Christian, I will cause you pain that you have never felt before, because I am the Game, and I’m that, damn, good!” Christian turns and leaves, and Hunter returns to his conversation with Flair and Tomko. 76%

1st Match: Bob Sapp vs Chavo Guerrero. Bob Sapp dominated this match from start to finish, only letting Chavo hit a couple of low blows, but they only caused momentarily interruptions to Sapp’s domination of his opponent. However, the match ended when Randy Orton ran down to the ring, and he hit Sapp with the RKO, causing the referee to give Sapp the victory by Disqualification. After the match, Orton continued his assault, beating Sapp down in the corner with stomps, before hitting another RKO and taunting the big man, before referees came down to separate the two superstars. 80%

Chris Jericho is in the ring, ready to do the Highlight Reel. Jericho says that, tonight, his guest on the Highlight Reel will be the referee of his match at King of the Ring, Mike Chioda. Chioda comes down to the ring, and Jericho shakes his hand. Jericho then shows Chioda a tape of last nights match between Y2J and Flair. After the video has finished, Jericho asks Chioda if he sees Jericho tap out. Chioda shakes his head, and Jericho asks him to revoke the decision. Chioda says that he can’t do that, and says that only Eric Bischoff can do that. Jericho says ok, but before he can call Bischoff down to the ring, Ric Flair and Triple H come out of the crowd and beat Jericho down. Flair eventually locks in the Figure Four Leglock on Y2J, while Triple H stomped away at Jericho. Referees ran down to help Chioda release Jericho from the hold, and they eventually succeed in their task. Flair and the Game taunt Jericho, as the Intercontinental Champion is helped away from the ring by the referees. 88%

Rey Mysterio emerges from his locker room when Christian comes round the corner and blasts Mysterio with a vicious chair shot. Christian then continues to beat down Mysterio, until he eventually leaves, leaving Mysterio writhing on the floor. 81%

2nd Match: World Tag Team Titles: HHH and Flair vs Eugene and Regal. The two members of Evolution dominated this match, using every cheating tactic in the book to stop the Tag Champions gaining any momentum. The match ended surprisingly when Chris Jericho ran down, and he hit the running Enziguri on both Triple H and Ric Flair, and when Regal tried to stop Jericho, Jericho tossed him into the barricade, leading to a draw through double DQ result. Jericho continued to beat down HHH and Flair, Flair in particular, until he was satisfied. 79%

Kane is backstage with Maria Kanellis, doing an interview. Maria asks Kane what he’s wants to do at Vengeance, and Kane gets annoyed at her. He tells here f-off, before grabbing the microphone and saying “Batista, I’m going to make your life hell. Every time you enter a room, I’ll be there. Every time you turn a corner, I’ll be there, waiting. Waiting, until you give me a title shot at Vengeance. Enjoy, Batista.” 77%

3rd Match: Shelton Benjamin vs Christian. Shelton was still on a high after his KOTR victory last night, and he was on top for the majority of this contest. However, Christian thought he had the match won when the referee was knocked out, and he blasted Shelton with the steel steps to the face, but Captain Charisma was denied the victory when Rey Mysterio ran down and he hit a high, swinging DDT on Christian, onto the steel steps. Rey then put Shelton on top, handing Shelton the win. After the match, Rey taunts Christian from the ramp, while Shelton celebrated. 86%

Chris Jericho was backstage with Eric Bischoff. Jericho asked Bischoff to revoke the decision in Jericho’s match at the KOTR, but Bischoff refused. Bischoff then says that, he has already decided to give Jericho a rematch at Vengeance, and that’s were Jericho can gets his revenge. Jericho leaves, satisfied. 89%

Bob Sapp is in the ring, and he starts venting his frustrations at Randy Orton’s racist claim last weeks on RAW. Sapp then says that he thought that racial prejudice had ended long ago, and that he was deeply saddened by these prejudices resurfacing. However, Randy Orton appears on the stage, and he says that Sapp has proved that he cries racism with the words that he’s just said. Orton then runs down to the ring and kicks Sapp below the belt, before going for the RKO. However, Sapp got straight back up, sending Orton running away through the crowd in shock. 85%

Main Event: Batista vs The Undertaker. This match was the best match that either of these two men had put on for a while. Each man had their periods of dominance in this contest, although the superstars obviously had respect for one another. However, the clean aura of the match was ruined by the finsh, when Kane ran down to the ring. He rolled into the ring, but he was met by both competitors, who teamed up on the interfering Kane. Kane eventually left the ring, which allowed Batista to hit the ‘Tista Bomb on the unsuspecting Taker to win the match. 81%

After the match, both competitors shook hands, but then Kane slid in and went to hit Batista with a big boot. However, Batista ducked, and The Undertaker hit Kane with the Tombstone. And RAW ended on Batista and The Undertaker playing to the crowd, while Kane stumbled up the ramp.

RAW and SmackDown present King of the Ring on Pay-Per-View

Overall Rating: 81%

Buy Rate: 1.94

Jim Ross, Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler, Michael Cole and Tazz all welcome you to King of the Ring, live on PPV from the Georgia Dome, in Atlanta.

1st March: First Blood: Booker T vs Kane. The match started with the two men squaring up, before Booker went for a punch, which Kane blocked and followed with one of his own. Kane then kicked Booker in the mid-section before whipping him against the ropes, and he went for a big boot. However, Booker ducked it, and hit a spinning kick which sent the Big Red Machine crashing to the floor. Booker then hit a knee drop, before picking Kane up and whipping him into the turnbuckle. Booker then hit a couple of chops across Kane’s chest, before ramming Kane’s head into the turnbuckle, and then he followed that up by throwing Kane shoulder first into the steel post. As Kane held his shoulder, writhing in pain, Booker went outside and grabbed a steel chair from underneath the ring.

Booker then slid into the ring, and stalked Kane, who was slowly rising from the floor, oblivious to Booker and his weapon. Booker swung as the big man turned around, but Kane avoided the shot, and hit Booker in the mid-section, making the 5 time WCW champion drop the chair. Kane then grabbed Booker and tossed him across the ring. Kane stomped away at Booker, before taunting him and then he hit a leg drop on Booker. Then Kane waited for Booker to stagger to his feet, before hitting a massive powerbomb on Booker that shook the ring upon impact. Kane then signalled that the end was near, and he stalked the fallen Booker T, signalling for the Chokeslam. However, when Kane locked Booker in the goozle, Booker wriggled out and, in desperation, hit a jumping spin kick to Kane. Both men lay on the floor for a few seconds, before both men dragged themselves up. Kane went for the goozle again, but Booker countered with a kick below the belt, and Booker then hit the Scissor Kick on Kane. Booker then does a spinaroonie, before going up top, and he signalled for the Houston Hangover. However, Kane grabbed Booker by the throat while he was in mid-air, and the Big Red Machine hit Booker with a Chokeslam. Kane then went outside of the ring, and he looked under the ring for a while, before eventually returning to the ring with a sledgehammer.

Kane played to the crowd with the hammer, not knowing that Booker T had got up. As Kane turned around, Booker hit Kane with the Book End. Booker then dragged Kane to the corner, and he placed the steel chair over Kane’s face. Booker then went up top, and hit the Houston Hangover on Kane, driving the steel into Kane’s face. Booker then told the ref to check the Big Man’s face for bleeding, but the ref couldn’t find any, and Booker got frustrated. So, he took the steel chair and waited for Kane to get up, ready to hit him with the chair across the face. However, Kane got up and big booted the chair back into the face of Booker, cutting Booker open, and therefore giving Kane the win. 83%

2nd Match: Edge vs. Eddie Guerrero. Guerrero made his entrance first, and stood in the ring as Metalingus played. Edge came out with a mic in his hand, and spoke to Guerrero. “You know what…esse, you’ve been telling people for weeks that you have no idea why I cost you the title last month at Judgement Day. If you remember, the Smackdown before, I was attacked, and as a result lost to Benoit. Do you perhaps think that I didn’t see you Eddie? Do you think that perhaps I lost my memory? No, Eddie you attacked me from behind and that is why your match was lost against Cena.

The match was a number one contendership for Cena’s title. Eddie pounced as soon as Edge got into the ring, furious with the revelation, and hit him with stiff shots to the ribs.The referee called for the bell to be rung, and the match officially started. Guerrero whipped Edge to the ring, and caught him with a hip toss on the rebound, before locking on an armbar. Eddie let go, and kicked Edge hard in the head. Guerrero taunted the crowd before lifting Edge up and drilling him with a DDT. Guerrero leant over Edge, only to be cradled, 1…2…kickout, Edge popped up, and Guerrero also sprung up in frustration. The two faced off and proceeded to tear the place down with back and forth grappling. Edge gained the upper hand, and hit the Edgecution DDT, and struggled to get his arm over, 1…2…Eddie managed to kick out at the last second. Edge picked Guerrero back up, but was caught into the three amigos. Eddie picked Edge up again, and landed the three amigos again. Eddie dragged himself up to the top, but Guerrero was shocked to see that Edge was already up! Guerrero leapt off the top, looking for a splash, but was met in midair by a spear! 1…2…3! Metalingus played again, and Edge rolled out of the ring, dazed, one arm in the air, victorious.

75%

3rd Match: The Undertaker vs Christian. After the Undertaker had entered and was staring at Christian, Captain Charisma summoned all of his courage, and he squared off with Taker, before slapping the Dead Man across the face. The Undertaker glared at Christian, before dropping him with a big right hand. Taker then picked Christian up and tossed him into the corner, before hitting Christian with quick rights and lefts to the mid-section. Taker then drove his elbow into the face of Christian before suplexing Captain Charisma out of the corner. Taker then dropped the leg across Christian’s neck, and he covered Christian for a two count. Taker picked Christian up and went to whip him into the ropes, but Christian reversed it, sending Taker into the ropes. The Dead Man ducked a Christian clothesline off the first rebound, before flooring Christian with a flying lariat off the second rebound. Taker then pulled Christian to the corner, and he twisted Christian’s arm round, before stepping up to the top rope. However, when Taker started to walk along the top rope, Christian kicked the ropes, making Taker collapse, straddling the top rope. Christian then dropkicked Taker over the top rope, sending the Phenom crashing to the floor.

Christian then played to the crowd, taking this time to rest while the Undertaker was outside. Taker then slowly crawled back into the ring, and Christian immediately started to work on Taker, keeping him down with stomps. Christian then hit a suplex on Taker, before mocking the Undertaker’s one-knee pose. This allowed Taker to recuperate, however, and when Christian grabbed Taker and pulled him up off the floor, Taker hit a throat thrust on Christian. Taker then assumed control, laying Christian down next to the ropes, leaving Captain Charisma’s head hanging over the edge of the ring, below the bottom rope, without any support for his head. Taker climbed out of the ring, and ran at Christian’s head, dropping an elbow across it. Taker then climbed onto the outside edge of the ring, and dropped a leg drop across Christian’s neck. Taker then rolled Christian back into the ring and covered him for another two count. The Undertaker was getting frustrated now, and he signalled for the Chokeslam. However, Christian hit Taker with a low blow, and he rolled the Dead Man up for a two count.

Both men were now down, and the referee got to a seven count, before Christian slowly crawled up. He picked Taker up, and he hit him with a DDT, before picking Taker up, turning him round and hitting the Unprettier on the Dead Man. Christian then played to the crowd, thinking that he had the match won. But when he turned round, Taker sat up, and Christian stood still, shocked. Taker then hit Christian with three punches to the head, before hitting Captain Charisma with a DDT. Taker then signalled for the Chokeslam again, and this time, he hit it, sending Christian crashing to the floor. Taker signalled for the end, and when Christian got up, the Undertaker scooped him up onto his shoulder, ready for the Tombstone. However, Christian wriggled out of the position, and he rolled Taker up, using the tights, and then he put his feet on the ropes to pick up the 3 count and a surprising victory.

Afterwards, Christian quickly exits the ring, and he taunts a stunned Undertaker while quickly backing up the ramp. 78%

4th Match: Kurt Angle vs. Rob Van Dam. Angle and RVD came head to head, one on one after two months of feuding. Once both men were in the ring they wasted no time and started exchanging blows, back and forth. Angle whipped RVD to the ropes, and went for a back body drop, but Rob rolled over and stood behind Angle, before hitting him with a clothesline when he turned around. RVD leant against the ropes, and went for a rolling thunder, but Angle got his knees up. RVD screamed in agony as his lower back connected with Angle’s knees. Angle picked Van Dam up and hit a snap suplex, and then he faced the fans and let out a “Wooo” He picked RVD up, and hit him with a longer, stalling suplex. 1…2…RVD kicked out. Angle picked RVD up for a third suplex, but RVD countered with a Fisherman’s suplex.

RVD controlled the pace of the match from that point on, springing off the ropes and the turnbuckle at every available opportunity, and Angle was struggling to counter it. RVD hit Angle with a German, and climbed the turnbuckle, and once Angle was up, he came off with a martial arts kick. 1…2…kick out. RVD picked Angle up, and promptly slammed him back down, before this time scoring with the Rolling Thunder. Van Dam threw Angle to the outside, took a run up, and flew over the top rope to the outside with a vaulting body press, only for Angle to move and Van Dam’s face to crack onto the guadrail, splitting his forehead open in the process.

Angle smelt blood and punished RVD for his mistake. He whipped him into the opposite guard rail, and snap suplexed him onto the floor, before dragging his opponent into the ring. Angle pulled RVD up onto the top turnbuckle, and hit a superplex on him, 1…2…kick out from RVD. Angle snapped up, and hit three consecutive germans on Van Dam. 1…2…another kick out. Angle followed that assault up with an overhead Belly-to-Belly suplex, and he climbed the turnbuckle, looking for a moonsault. RVD got his knees up, and Angle yelped in pain. A light flashed on in RVD’s head, and he applied the ankle lock to Angle! Angle struggled, and was crawling to the ropes, but RVD dragged him further away. Just when it looked like Angle was going to tap, he managed to roll through and shake the hold off. RVD went for an Angle slam on Kurt, but angle rolled out and replied with a slam on his own! 1…2…Van Dam kicked out! Angle grabbed the ankle and applied an Angle lock. RVD screamed in pain, but got to the ropes. Angle ignored the referee’s pleas for him to break the hold, and pulled him away from the ropes, and applied a grapevine, leaving RVD stuck in the ankle lock in the middle of the ring. RVD used his quick thinking to apply an Angle lock of his own! Both men were screaming in agony, struggling to escape the ankle lock. Van Dam managed to kick Angle in the face, and escape the Angle lock, whilst keeping a grip on his own, and for his own safety, swept his legs away from Angles reach, and watched as Angle submitted to his own submission!

After the match, both men were helped to the back, unable to stand on their own free will.

88%

5th Match: Submission Match: Chris Jericho vs Ric Flair. The hatred between these two superstars, which had grown over the past few weeks, was very visible right from the start of this contest. Flair launched the first attack by catching hitting Jericho with an arm drag, before locking in an armbar. Jericho eventually muscled out of the hold and he kicked Flair in the mid-section before knocking Flair down with a dropkick. Jericho then started to work on Flair’s back, dropping his knees into the lower back of the Nature Boy, before stomping away on the same area. Jericho then picked Flair up and hit a backbreaker on Naitch, before bodyslamming Flair to the matt. Jericho then jumped out of the ring and he then dragged Flair out of the ring. Jericho then whipped Naitch into the barrier at ringside. Jericho then whipped Flair into the ringpost, before dropkicking Flair, driving Flair’s back into the ringpost again. Jericho then got a chair from ringside and hammered it across Flair’s back multiple times. The referee then pleaded with Jericho to get Flair back into the ring, and Jericho eventually rolled a fallen Flair back into the squared circle.

Jericho hit another backbreaker on Naitch, before placing the chair on Flair’s back, and going up top. Jericho went for a moonsault, but Flair rolled away, leaving the chair lying their, and Jericho fell head first into the steel chair. Flair then took advantage, taking the chair and hammering Jericho’s legs with the steel weapon. Flair then folded the chair across Jericho’s legs, trapping Jericho’s knee in-between the joint in the chair. Flair then jumped onto the chair, trapping Jericho’s knee in the chair, causing serious damage to the knee of Y2J. As Jericho rolled around in pain, clutching his knee, Flair let out a “WOOOOOOO!!!” before dragging Jericho away from the ropes, and he locked on the Figure-four-leglock.

Jericho writhed and screamed in pain for a long time, but he didn’t tap, and he eventually rolled over, reversing the submission. Now it was Flair’s turn to writhe and scream in pain. However, just as Flair was about to tap, Triple H ran down to the ring. He pulled the referee out of the ring literally seconds before Flair tapped. HHH tossed the ref into the barricade, before breaking the submission by whacking Jericho with the chair. Triple H then hit the Pedigree on Jericho onto the chair, sending Y2J into the steel face first. Triple H then helped Flair up, and Naitch told him that he would take it from here. Triple H then turned and left the ring, and started walking up the ramp. Meanwhile, Flair bounced off the ropes and was about to hit Jericho with a knee drop, when Jericho tripped Flair up and locked him in the Walls of Jericho. Flair couldn’t stand it, and he tapped madly. However, the ref was only just recovering from the Game’s attack, and this allowed Triple H to return to the ring, having noticed the in-ring action. The Game ran in the ring and he hit a baseball slide on the referee, sending the ref crashing to the floor. He then hit Jericho with the chair to the head, and Flair, after taking some time to recover, locked in the Figure Four. Triple H went to look at the referee, but he was out cold, so Triple H tore the referee’s shirt off the ref, put it on himself, and he told the timekeeper to ring the bell. The timekeeper hesitated, but the Game went up to him and grabbed him by the collar, and he shouted at him to ring the DAMN bell, as he was the referee. The timekeeper finally relented, and Flair won the match, although Jericho never tapped.

Triple H carried Flair up the ramp, leaving Jericho hobbling around in the ring. 82%

6th Match: Smackdown’s King Of The Ring Final: Paul London vs. Billy Kidman. There was an intense hatred between these two, stemming from Kidman calling London chicken over his inability to wrestle Kidman for the cruiserweight championship, and then of course, Kidman won the vacant title at Judgement Day, and these two were about to clash in Smackdown’s King Of The Ring final.

They started off chain wrestling, London hit a snapmare, which was partly reversed into an arm drag, London went for a victory roll, but Kidman rolled forward into a pinning combination of his own, 1…2…kickout. Both men were to their feet at the same time, and London hit Kidman with a head scissors, before landing a standing moonsault, 1…2…kick out. Kidman tripped London through, grabbed both of his legs, and rolled through into a pin, 1…2…kick out. Kidman sent London to the ropes, and hit a tilt a whirl slam on the former cruiserweight champion. 1…2…kick out. Kidman this time sent London into the corner, and hit him with a hurricanrana off the top. Kidman dragged London up to his feet again, and once more sent him to the corner, once again picked London up and hit the second hurricanrana from up top. 1…2…kick out. Kidman Looked back at the corner. He literally dragged London into the corner, and propped him up on top of the turnbuckle, looking for a third hurricanrana, this time however, London leant forward and dropped Kidman off the top with a sit down powerbomb.

London was first to his feet, and he landed a standing shooting star press. 1…2…kick out once more. London picked Kidman up, and kicked him hard in the gut, before whipping him to the turnbuckle, and hitting a monkey flip. Then he climbed the turnbuckle once more, and came off once Kidman was on his feet with a torpedo body attack, 1…2…kick out. London picked Kidman back up, and landed a swinging neckbreaker on the cruserweight champion. Once again Kidman was stood up, and hit with a tigerbomb. London to the top rope, and came off with a Shooting Star Press, 1…2…kickout! London grabbed his head in disbelief. He went up top again, and hit a second Shooting Star Press. Instead of going for the cover, he went up for a third, but Kidman got his knee’s up on this occasion. Kidman hit London with a facebuster before London realised he was up. Kidman hit him with a second rope Shooting Star Press, 1…2…kick out. Kidman pounded the mat, but was soon enough on the top rope, and came off with a Shooting Star Press again, 1…2…3! Kidman had done it! Raven came out and put Kidman on his shoulders, and paraded around the ring, verbally abusing the fans. Before helping him back stage, Kidman is Smackdown’s King Of The Ring 2005.

85%

7th Match: RAW King of the Ring Final: Shelton Benjamin vs Randy Orton. The match began with Benjamin going for a Super Kick on Orton, but Randy ducked, and he hit Benjamin with a suplex. Orton then started to stomp away at Shelton, before Shelton rolled away, and Orton played to the crowd. Shelton got up and dropkicked Orton over the ropes, and then Shelton jumped onto the top rope, before flying at Orton and hitting him with a flying cross body. Shelton then whipped Orton into the barricade, and he rolled back into the ring, and going up to the top of the turnbuckle. Shelton came off the top with a corkscrew attack, but Orton moved out of the way, and Shelton landed on the barricade. Orton hit a couple of chops across Shelton’s chest before whipping Benjamin into the steel steps. Orton then hit Shelton with a forearm to the face, before sending him face first into the ringpost.

Orton then rolled into the ring to break the count, and he rolled back out. Orton slammed Shelton face first into the announcers table, before Orton climbed on top of the table, dragging Benjamin with him. Orton went for a piledriver, but Shelton wriggled free, and he put Orton through the table with a hurricanrana. After taking some time to recover, Benjamin rolled Orton back into the ring and he hit him with a suplex, before rolling on top of Orton to pick up a two cunt on the pin. Benjamin then whipped Orton into the ropes and went for a dropkick, but Orton stopped himself, and Shelton went crashing to the floor. Orton then took control, hitting Shelton with rights and lefts before hitting the former IC champion with a DDT. Orton then followed up with three elbow drops, before covering Shelton and getting a two count.

Orton then picked Shelton up, and he whipped Shelton into the ropes. Orton then ducked a Benjamin clothesline, and he went for an RKO, but Shelton reversed it into a backdrop. Both men were down for eight seconds, when both men slowly crawled to their feet. Orton crawled over to the corner, and he took off the turnbuckle cover. The referee went over and told Orton to put the cover back on, when Benjamin ran in with a Stinger Splash. However, Orton moved out of the way while pulling the referee into Shelton’s path, and Shelton connected with the referee. The referee was down, and Orton ran in with a clothesline, but Shelton ducked, and Orton just stopped himself from going face first into the ringpost.

Benjamin then ran in with a Super kick, but Orton moved, and Shelton hung himself up on the exposed turnbuckle. As Shelton fell onto the floor in pain, Orton rolled out of the ring. He picked up a chair from ringside, and he crawled back into the ring with the weapon. He stood next to the ropes, waiting for Shelton to struggle to his feet. However, when Shelton turned around, and before Orton could swing the weapon, Bob Sapp appeared out of the crowd, and he grabbed Orton’s leg. Orton turned around, and the two superstars had a shouting match before Orton through the chair at Sapp. Orton then turned around walked into a T-Bone Suplex from Shelton, and he covered Orton. The referee then crawled over and administered a slow 3 count to give Shelton the win, and make him the winner of RAW’s KOTR tournament in 2005. After the match, as Shelton was celebrating, Sapp rolled into the ring, and he hit Orton with the Beast Bomb onto the chair, before taunting Orton and then leaving up the ramp. 91%

The steel cage descended from the rafters as the crowd got ready for their Smackdown main event.

8th Match: Steel Cage: WWE Championship: John Cena vs. Raven. The two faced off, one on one inside the steel cage, Raven possessed the psychological advantage, having got the best of Cena on Smackdown that week.

Cena grabbed Raven by the hair and instantly threw his face into the mesh. Cena grabbed Raven’s hair again before he hit the floor, and threw him at the opposite side of the cage. The champ proceeded to grate Raven’s face against the steel mesh, busting him open in the process. Cena yelled at Raven, only for him to stand back up, look him right in the eye and laugh. Cena threw a right hook at his opponent, and then another, before throwing him against the ropes, and hitting Raven with a Samoan drop. He ran against the ropes and hit the five-knuckle shuffle. Cena looked to end the match early with an F-U, but Raven dropped behind him and scored a kick to the gut and the Raven Effect!

The two men stayed down for a good 10seconds catching their breath before getting to their feet. Raven looked to put Cena away with a second DDT, but Cena reversed it into a Northern Lights suplex. 1…2…kick out. Cena dragged Raven up, and again threw him into the cage. This time Cena picked Raven up, and looked for an F-U, and to the shock of the crowd, connected! 1…2…kick out! Cena wasn’t fazed by Raven’s kick out, and went for a second F-U, but Raven slid behind this one, and pushed Cena face first into the cage. Raven picked the champ up, and set him up for an F-U of his own! However, instead of hitting it properly, he threw him into the cage! 1…2…Cena managed to get the shoulder up. Raven smiled and waited for Cena to get to his feet, before going for another DDT, Cena reversed it into a back body drop, and began to climb the cage. Raven was soon to his feet, and chased the champion up top. Both men were sitting on top of the cage throwing lefts and rights, when Cena ducked one, picked Raven up over his head, and F-Ued him back into the ring! Cena dropped to the floor and left the arena celebrating.

Back in the ring, Raven dragged himself up, furious at the missed opportunity, when the Big Show sprung through the bottom of the ring! Raven stood alone in shock, as the Big Show stood right in front of him, and chokeslammed Raven through the hole he’d just come out of!

Big Show left through the door as medics stormed in,, and attended to Raven.

83%

Main Event: World Heavyweight Title: Batista vs Triple H. The two men squared up at the bell, with Triple H giving abuse to the Champ, who was doing nothing. Triple H then slapped Batista across the head, but Batista just glared back at the Game. Triple H gave some more abuse, and then he threw a right hand, which Batista blocked and he hit HHH with a right hand of his own. This sequence occurred twice more, the third punch sending HHH crashing to the floor. Batista then bodyslammed Triple H, before laying into him with stomps. Triple H managed to scramble to the corner, and he pleaded with Batista to lay off him. Batista didn’t take any notice, and he followed the Game into the corner and continued laying into the challenger with stomps. The referee got himself in-between the two superstars, and he persuaded Batista to let Triple H get out of the corner. Triple H slowly got up, and walked around the ring a bit, before running at Batista with a clothesline. Batista avoided the clothesline, and HHH continued into the ropes. He rebounded and hit the Champion with a high knee. Triple H then locked in a death lock on Batista, causing damage to Batista’s legs.

Batista managed to get to the ropes, and the Game let go of the hold. However, he didn’t let Batista get up, as he stomped away to keep the big man down. Triple H then picked Batista up, and he whipped him into the ropes. On the rebound, Batista went for a clothesline, but Triple H ducked, and he kicked the Champ in the mid-section before hitting him with a DDT. HHH covered Batista for a two count. The Game then hit Batista with a suplex, before hitting a knee drop on Batista’s face, and he covered the Animal for another two count. Triple H then got frustrated, and he started shouting at the referee. Triple H then picked Batista up, and again he whipped the Champ against the ropes, and then he hit Batista with a knee smash. As Batista stumbled around, Triple H kicked him in the mid-section, and he then put Batista in the position for the Pedigree. However, just before HHH executed his finisher, Batista broke free and hit the Game with a massive spinebuster. Both men were down for a six count, before Batista got up, and tore off his elbow pad and prepared to hit a massive clothesline on HHH. However, when Batista ran in, Triple H ducked, and he went for a kick to the mid-section, but Batista caught his foot. The Champ spun Triple H around, kicked him in the mid-section, and then hit him with the ‘Tista Bomb to pick up the victory. 79%

So King of the Ring finishes with Batista celebrating another successful title defence, and HHH stumbling back up the ramp, distraught at not winning the title back.

RAW presents Monday Night RAW

Overall Rating: 77%

TV Rating: 6.04

Jim Ross and Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler welcome you to Monday Night RAW, live from the Frank McGuire Arena, South Carolina.

Eric Bischoff appears on the titantron and says that tonight, as a special treat, we will see the final two semi-finals, Booker T vs Ric Flair, and Kane vs Shelton Benjamin, to see who will face Randy Orton in the triple-threat final at the King of the Ring on Sunday. 83%

Chris Jericho is in the ring, and he says that he has had enough of Ric Flair running away from him, so, tonight, he challenges Flair to a Submission match at the King of the Ring PPV on Sunday. Evolution’s music hits, and Flair appears with Tyson Tomko. Flair says that he accepts Jericho’s challenge, adding that he is looking forward to finally shutting Jericho’s mouth by beating him at KOTR. 92%

Booker T is getting out of his car in the parking lot, when Kane appears out of nowhere and slams the door on Booker T, trapping Booker’s arm inbetween the car and the door. Kane then hammers Booker’s head into the side of the car, before tossing him across the bonnet, and then he picks Booker up, and he powerbombs him onto the front windscreen (which doesn’t break). Kane then leaves, satisfied with his work. 83%

A video is played, showing last week on RAW when Batista put HHH through the contracts table. 72%

1st Match: Frankie Kazarian vs Randy Orton. Kazarian requested this match, without Mick Foley’s blessing, and Orton showed how far Kazarian was away from being capable of competing above his current level. Orton used his experience advantage to beat Kazarian, constantly undermining Kazarian by bending every rule in the book. Orton eventually won by hitting Kazarian with a low blow, followed by a RKO to win the contest. Afterwards, Bob Sapp ran down, but before he could get his hands on Orton, Randy was already halfway out of the arena, through the crowd. 71%

Christian is in the ring. He says how he isn’t scared of the Undertaker, and to prove that he isn’t scared, he challenges the Undertaker to a match at King of the Ring on Sunday. The lights go out, as the Undertaker makes his way to the ring. Taker takes the microphone from a resilient Christian, who stares at the Deadman, constantly saying ‘I’m not scared…I’m not scared!’. Taker says that he accepts Christian challenge, and he then tells Christian that, this Sunday, he will bear witness to his own execution. The Undertaker then tells Christian that he will rest in peace, before turning and getting out of the ring. 85%

2nd Match: King of the Ring Semi-Final: Kane vs Shelton Benjamin. This was a thrilling match, as Shelton and Kane both put their bodies on the line to get to the KOTR final. The end came when Shelton ducked a Kane flying clothesline, and Kane connected with the referee. Kane then got the goozle on Shelton, when a bloody Booker T ran down and hit Kane with a chop block, before hitting the Scissor Kick which allowed Shelton to hit the 450 splash to pick up the win. Booker and Shelton then celebrated up the ramp, leaving a furious Kane in the ring. 72%

3rd Match: Eugene Dinsmore vs Christian. Eugene and Christian put on a great technical spectacle, with both men performing superbly and thoroughly entertaining the fans. The end came when Christian used the tights to roll up Eugene and, to add insult to injury, use the ropes to gain the win over a distraught Eugene. However, after the match, the lights went out, and a burning casket was wheeled down to the ring by hooded druids. Christian stared at the flames on the casket, when the lights suddenly flashed on, and pyro exploded from the turnbuckles, sending Christian stumbling to the floor in sheer shock. Then, the casket stopped burning, and the door opened…and there was nobody there. Christian crawled to the casket to check that there was no one there, when a the Undertaker’s voice aired across the arena “Rest…In…Peace!”. Suddenly, the casket catches fire again, and then the hooded creatures slowly takes the casket away, leaving Christian in the ring, feeling a mixture of shock and fear. 75%

4th Match: King of the Ring Semi-Final: Ric Flair vs Booker T. A bloody Booker T fought valiantly in this match against a fresh Flair, who took full advantage of Booker’s poor physical state. However, a surprising end occurred, when Flair and Booker were brawling outside the ring. Tomko was distracting the referee, while Flair hit Booker with a chair, when Kane came down. He went to pick Booker up, when Flair told the Big Red Machine to get lost as he would wreck the match. In answer to this, Kane tossed Flair into the steel steps, before turning his attention to Booker. Kane picked the battered Booker up, and chokeslammed him through the announcer’s table. Tomko then stopped distracting the ref and came round to help Ric, who seemed to be cold, when Kane kicked Tomko, and then chokeslammed the Evolution member through the other announcer’s table! This led to a double count-out and therefore a draw, meaning that the final at King of the Ring 2005 would be a 1-on-1 match between Randy Orton and Shelton Benjamin. 75%

Kane then goes up to a writhing Booker and says that he has had a match confirmed at King of the Ring by Eric Bischoff, and it will be Kane and Booker T in a First Blood match. Kane then tells Booker that he can’t wait to end Booker’s career, before stomping on Booker and then leaving. 85%

Main Event: Chris Jericho vs Triple H with a Guest Referee Ric Flair. Ric Flair struggled to officiate this match, but he didn’t need to do very much, as Triple H did what he liked, using every weapon imaginable to beat down Jericho. However, after Jericho kicked out of a chair shot to the head (and a quick count), Triple H had had enough. He told Flair to hold Jericho, and the Nature Boy duly obliges. However, when Triple H swings the chair, Jericho uses his last bit of strength to duck the chair shot, and Triple H ended up hitting Flair! Flair and Jericho were both down, and Triple H went out to fetch a sledgehammer, when Batista ran down in a suit, and when the Game returned to the ring, the World Heavyweight Champion hit him with the ‘Tista Bomb, before dragging Jericho on top of Triple H. Batista then ripped off his suit jacket, revealing a referee’s shirt! Batista then administered a fair three count, allowing Jericho to pick up the victory. 70%

RAW ended with Batista and Jericho both playing to the crowd with their respective belts, while Triple H and Ric Flair lay motionless in the ring.

RAW presents Monday Night RAW

Overall Rating: 83%

TV Rating: 5.68

Jim Ross and Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler welcome you to Monday Night RAW, live from The Georgia Dome, South Carolina.

Eric Bischoff comes down to the ring with a microphone. He says “Now, I’m sure that you’ve enjoyed the King of the Ring tournament as much as I have over the last few weeks, and it’s going to get even better as, tonight, we will see the first semi-final, between Randy Orton and Bob Sapp. 83%

Triple H is in the ring, with a microphone, and there’s a table set up with two contracts lying on it. Triple H says into the mic “Now, over the past couple of weeks, I have seen the re-emergence of Batista, the re-emergence of the World Heavyweight Champion who beat me on April 3rd at WrestleMania. And I am glad that this event has occurred, as it will make my victory at King of the Ring even sweeter.” Triple H smiles while a mixture of ‘Boos’ and ‘Batista’ chants echo throughout the arena. The Game continues “Now, tonight, I want to make the title match at KOTR official, as I don’t want Batista backing down at the last minute. So, ‘Champ’ come down and sign your title to me.”

Batista’s music hits, and the World Heavyweight Champion enters the ring. Triple H shows Batista the Game’s contract, and the Champion looks on as the Game signs his contract. Triple H then hands the pen to Batista, who starts writing on his contract, when Triple H slams the microphone across the back of Batista’s head. However, the smile that appeared on the Game’s face quickly disappears, as Batista turns around, a smile of his own appearing, acting as if nothing had happened. Triple H goes to hit the Champ again, but Batista blocks the shot, and then tosses Triple H through the table. Batista then signs his contract, and tosses it onto the motionless body of Triple H. 88%

Frankie Kazarian is talking to Mick Foley in his locker room. Kazarian moans about how Foley hasn’t given him any real matches over the past few weeks, and that he only gives him very mediocre opponents to beat without breaking a sweat. Foley tries to reassure Frankie that he has to start slow, gain experience, to build up a reputation and gain respect in the business before you can start facing tougher, more accomplished opponents. Kazarian tells Foley to shut up, and he storms out, saying that he wonders why he trusted Mick to tutor him in the first place. 86%

1st Match: Frankie Kazarian vs Maven. Kazarian dominated Maven for the whole of the contest, making it a very one-sided affair. After hitting Maven with a top rope hurracanrana and various submission moves, Kazarian eventually won the match by executing the Wave of the Future. 71%

Christian is in the ring, accompanied by a midget dressed as the Undertaker. Christian has a microphone and says “Last week, I showed that I wasn’t scared of the Undertaker by beating…no, DESTROYING the Undertaker in the parking lot. And tonight, to show my peeps that I am truly the greatest, I will beat the Undertaker AGAIN, right in this very ring.” Captain Charisma then kicks the midget before hitting the Undertaker look alike with the Unprettier. Christian then leaves up the aisle, taunting the Undertaker and playing to the crowd. 85%

Chris Jericho is in the ring, with the Intercontinental title belt, ready for the Highlight Reel. He takes the microphone and announces tonight’s guest, Shelton Benjamin. Shelton comes down to the ring, and he shakes Jericho’s hand. Jericho apologises for Flair’s interference last week, and promises a re-match with Shelton after KOTR. And then, before Jericho can continue, Ric Flair and Tyson Tomko run down and attack. While Tomko disposes of Benjamin, Flair hits Jericho with the IC title belt, before taunting the IC champion. 88%

Randy Orton is backstage with Maria Kanellis, doing an interview. Maria asks him about his upcoming KOTR semi-final match against Bob Sapp. Orton says that he is the Legend Killer but, tonight, Orton will not be killing a legend. Orton says that Bob Sapp was only given a job because he is a big, black man who would cry racism if he wasn’t employed. Orton then says that he will go on to become the King of the Ring 2005, and there’s nothing that Bob Sapp, or anybody else, can do about it, because he is the Legend Killer. 85%

2nd Match: King of the Ring Semi-Final: Randy Orton vs Bob Sapp. This was a thrilling contest, with Sapp really rising to the challenge posed by the former World Heavyweight Champion. Sapp was obviously angered by Orton’s comments earlier, and Sapp had won the match when he hit Orton with the Beast Bomb. However, instead of going for the cover, Sapp continued beating Orton up, and he went outside to fetch a chair. When Sapp re-entered, the referee stopped Sapp using the chair, and while the referee was disposing of the chair, Orton hit Sapp with a low blow, and then Orton hit the RKO to pick up the win, and therefore advancing into the final of KOTR 2005. After the match, Orton ran away from a furious Sapp. 80%

Eugene vs Orton

Orton vs Bob Sapp

Tomko vs Bob Sapp

The Hurricane vs Kane

Kane vs Shelton Orton vs

Shelton vs The Undertaker

Mysterio vs Ric Flair

Flair vs Booker

Booker vs Christian

3rd Match: Rey Mysterio vs Christian. Again, these two superstars put on another quality performance, with both men having their periods of dominance. Christian even limited his cheating in the match, and seemed to have more confidence in the match, probably because he didn’t expect the Undertaker to interfere in the match. The end came when Mysterio hit the 619, and went to hit the hurracanrana, but Christian rolled through the pin, using the tights, to get the three count. Afterwards, Christian was taunting Mysterio while backing up the ramp, when the arena went dark, and the Undertaker’s music hit. Christian turned around to face the titantron, shouting “I’m not scared of you anymore!” when the Undertaker appeared. Christian retreated back to the ring, and the Undertaker followed. Christian stood in the middle of the ring, when the Undertaker raised his arms. Then, he lowered them, and pyro exploded from the four turnstiles. Christian still stood in the ring, slightly shaken, but still shouting about how he wasn’t scared. Taker then entered the ring and squared up to Christian, who then slapped the Deadman. Taker moves to hit Christian, but Captain Charisma runs out of the ring, and backs up the aisle, taunting the Undertaker. 83%

Triple H is backstage, doing an interview with Maria Kanellis. Maria starts to ask the Game about Batista’s recent dominance over Evoluition over the past few weeks, but the Game cuts her off, saying that Batista’s recent dominance will mean nothing come their title match at King of the Ring. HHH then says that Batista’s dominance will end tonight, and Triple H will give everyone a preview of KOTR – a Triple H victory. 83%

Main Event: Batista and Chris Jericho vs HHH and Flair. This was a quality tag team match, with Triple H and Flair isolating the IC champion, Chris Jericho. However, when Jericho eventually made the tag to Batista, the World Heavyweight champion dominated the rest of the match, hitting both of his opponents with a range of highly powerful moves. The match ended when Jericho had Flair locked in the Walls of Jericho outside the ring, while Batista hit the ‘Tista Bomb on HHH to win the match. 83%

After the match, Batista and Jericho celebrated in the ring, while Triple H and Flair stumbled back up the ramp. And this was how RAW ended.

There will be no RAW post today, as I discovered that I am one week ahead of ravenjuice (which he blames me for because I 'didn't check if he had posted or not', but I think is his fault for not posting, but anyway...) so I will not post this week, allowing ravenjuice to catch up by posting on thursday, and then I will resume normal posting duties on monday.

Crouch may not have been brought in to be a consistent goal-scorer, but with Liverpool needing goals, I'd sooner drop him for one than keep someone who currently can't score for shit. Ideally, you need a half decent striker and Crouch is about as far as one as humanly possible at the minute.

I love this diary. The backstory is excellent, the write-up is perfect, and I think that what your trying to do is a really great idea. Keep it going.

Please, Pompey, please hire Gary Megson. PLEASE!!!